Exploration (Hiatus)
by AriannaK
Summary: Set sometime in the future, humans venture into space and make their "first" contact with yautjas. However, humans soon realize that the yautjas have been hunting them all along, and they scramble to find something the yautjas will trade for-besides their lives. (Warning: HIATUS...Sorry) IN-PROGRESS


As soon as Earth made contact with the first alien lifeforms, it was a race to discover others. Many ships were set out in search of other sentient beings, to catalog them, and trade with them. Humans offered many Earthly delights-anything from slaves, to unique goods. In return, Earth created alliances more powerful than any weapon humans could create or procure. Earth prospered from trade and its knowledge of the universe was expanding rapidly.

Bases were erected on foreign planets, facilitating trade and allowing for further travel. Innumerable species were found, some humanoid and intelligent. Not every alien was friendly though, and not every exploration ship returned. Some passengers were slaughtered or kidnapped, the ships lost forever in the void of space. Most humanoids tended to be intelligent and reasonable, but Evelyn had her reservations about yautjas.

She was a consultant aboard a spacecraft headed for the yautja home planet. Their information regarding the species was all second-hand, and vague. She had a basic knowledge of the native language, and experience dealing with aliens. The yautja were strong and prideful hunters, but little else was known. It was her team's mission to find out if the yautjas were friendly, and if so, what they were interested in trading.

She sat in a pod by herself, connected to the rest of the ship. It was small, just a bed and place for her few belongings. It looked ultra-modern, egg-shaped, with smooth boring white walls. Based on the assumed climate where they were going, she pulled a short dress over her body. There was no fun in dying in a puffy spacesuit.

As she pulled her hair back, she stared out the ship's window, at two small suns close to a huge planet. Part of the yautja home planet was jungle, and part was desert. The desert portion sill had oases and rivers that reminds of her Earth;s egypt before it was remodeled. And the jungle portion was so thick, it reminded her of Earth's amazon before it had been settled for housing. Her metal bracelet started to vibrate, diverting her attention away from the alien planet.

Their ship was picking up a highly evolved defense system surrounding the planet and the two suns as well. They would not be able to get near the planet without clearance. Among the stars, their ship came to a stop. It was a critical moment, as the yautjas could choose to blow them up without another thought. Evelyn took a deep breath, put on her best smile, and went to go join the rest of the crew.

Usually they were bustling about, checking the computers, and rechecking everything. As she stepped out of her pod though, everyone was just standing frozen, staring at the front window. Her jaw dropped as she saw hundreds of small battleships facing them in the distance. Their ship rumbled and shook, then blue waves of electricity stretched out in front of them. Her breath caught as an enormous ship uncloaked, hovering over their tiny exploration craft.

They had adopted alien technology when possible, but their craft hadn't even detected any other ships in the vicinity. The yautjas jamming technology had to be more advanced than anything they had. Faced with possible death, Evelyn still had a job to do. She noted that the yautja technology was something worth trading for, then she went to the communication center. She pulled that smile back in place, then turned on the camera.

o00o00o

Rou'nk-je rumbled with amusement, hearing that the soft meat prey had finally summoned up the technology to venture farther out into space. They had been keeping tabs on their progression, but it came to him as a surprise to him that they suddenly arrived right after breakfast. Elders had already convened one cycle ago to decide that the oomans would be allowed to communicate and travel around them without harm. The problem was, the soft meats actually had the galls to try and land on their planet. That turn of events unfolded interestingly.

Slaughtering prey that walked right up to you wasn't very sportsmanlike, but it was tempting. The elders and ancients decided that where they landed would determine their fate. Some clans wanted them for trophies. Some clans wanted them for slaves. Rou'nk-je's clan was curious about what they may have to offer, and wanted to convene with them first.

Other planets were locking the yautja out with highly developed planetary defense systems. Some planets went the completely opposite direction-disposing of all weapons so that it was unhonorable to come kill them. Oomans were a favorite prey, with skulls that the yautja found alluring. It would be a shame if all of their exploration let them to find better defenses and they were no longer available as prey. His clan hoped to bargain for hunting rights.

Since the soft meats were in danger of landing in the wrong territory, one of their clan elders sent his ship to go out and direct the small ooman craft. It loomed above the soft meat spaceship, pulling it along with an artificial gravity. Other smaller battleships could have tried to steal the ship, but the elder's unspoken command was clear: the ooman's were now his prey. Rou'nk-je had an unusually close relationship with his sire, who was the elder. He attended meetings, ceremonies, and was being groomed to become an elder as well.

With the oomans approaching, his sire turned to him, "I expect that you will meet with these oomans, find out what they want, and act appropriately."

"I will."

Just as the elder left, a transmission was picked up from the ooman craft. He clicked a button on his wrist controls, allowing it, and a hologram appeared. It wasn't exactly the same frequency as their usual transmissions, so it was a bit fuzzy to his eyes, but he could make out the ooman female. She looked frail, with her small build and without tusks, nails, or even sharp teeth. However, her words were strong and confident, and that peeked Rou'nk-je's interest.

He replayed her short transmission, and stared at her brown eyes a she talked. She was speaking yautja, but he was more curious about her long brunette hair and creamy white skin. Rou'nk-je had always admired oomans, but his sire had disproved that he learn any of their languages. Rou'nk-je had argued that it could be used as a tactical advantage, knowing the language, but the elder was firm in his traditional views. The elder felt that speaking anything else but yautja was treason.

It didn't matter now though, as the female spoke yautja. He left the conference room and briskly walked through the maze of corridors. The clan house was huge, able to accommodate guests, but he wondered if the oomans would be staying or not. Rou'nk-je went to his bedroom, and clicked a panel on the wall, making a shelf jut out for temporary use. Then, he grabbed a container from an in-wall cabinet and set it on the shelf.

His sire was not pleased with the idea of negotiating with prey either, but it was what his clan wanted. Since the elder would not be with him, Rou'nk-je decided to dress ceremoniously to impress the female. He tied on a russet colored fur loincloth, and adorned bone jewelry. After that, he dipped his claws in the container on the shelf, and painted subtle, gold lines on his body. Rou'nk-je even oiled his hair, making the strands glossy.

Then, he went to go greet the brave little explorers who had wandered into the hands of predators that had been hunting them ever since they had evolved and became worthy prey.

(...Srry, this story may not get updated anytime soon...)


End file.
